The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-06-01
THE BASE BALL CLUB.

| The Indianapolis Base ball Club is to return
| home this week, and will play series of
six games with Pittsburg and Chicago the
home grounds. While the club does not
come back as conquering heroes, still justice
should be done the players, and they ought to be
credited with the real ability they have shown.
No club stands better in fielding average, and
the batting average is fairly high. Individual
players have good records, too good, probably,
for the better record of the club as whole.
But they have played to bad luck, outrageous
umpiring, and discordant management. It
is understood that the return of the
club will be signalized by thorough reor-
ganization and readjustment of the manage
ment, and every body will concede that nothing
is more needed When the duck" of the
club began to run adversely, the Journal ven
tured to suggest that one potential reason might
be that the management was such to create
the impression that indianapolis was not
permanently in the League, and that made
the players look out for themselves individu-
ally great deal more than they cared for the
club as an entirety. If that criticism was
well founded then, it is three-fold more true
now. The impression of temperatures has
been deepened. First the management of the
players was given to Mr.. Burnham then he
was permitted to resign; then he rein
stated by an adjunct" committee, of some
sort other; and now it is understood he
has been again removed, and another
manager selected, an appointment
which, if reports be true, is
understood to be only temporary.
There are and have been at least three differ
ent centers of authority. There has been
and is a virtual board of directors of fifteen
larger number than care for the vast inter-
ests of the Pennsylvania railroad-and a large
majority of the fifteen know as little about
baseball as they do of conducting theolog-
ical university. Such sort of management
could not manage peanut stand or a stable
of street-car mules, much less an aggregation
of intelligent human beings
The people of the city have interest in
this matter. They were taken into full part
nership at the constitution of the
CiuO, dAu uuleSS tuty CoutlnUe 10
be partners in the combination the
venture will not be successful. The reputa-
ton of the city is involved to degree. IL
the club wins, or makes creditabe record
the city is correspondingly benefted if the
club makes a poor showing, the city receives
a black eye. Indianapolis wants no black eye
just now, even from the baseball club, whose
chief weakness is the ineffectiveness of the
management behind it. There should be
such reorganization as would impress the
members of the club, as well as the people of
the city and of the country generally, with the
belief that indianapolis means business
in base-b ball, as we'll as in other
things, and that the city's is not
to be used as a mere convenience and
makeshift, either by players or by the League.
Put the baseball club on permanent basis,
on business basis. There is too much vii
lage spirit about everything that indianapolis
does. Let US get out of it. The baseball
management manages" base ball with about
the same kind of business sagacity that the
Council does the natural-gas problem. The
club management should teach the council
men needed lesson in business" The re-
turn of the team affords good opportunity
for turning new leaf.